The solar batteries and panel at the Mary E. Fritsch Nature Center were installed in 1981.  Thirty-three years later, we got new batteries!  The solar panel is still working just fine!  With new batteries and new bulbs, we are designing field experiences for high school physics and environmental science classes and incorporating the technology into elementary and middle school field trips.  Next fall physics students will be able to measure and calculate watts, voltage, amperes and compare different loads and filters.  Environmental Science students will compare the sustainability of solar energy with other energy capturing/producing technology.

In addition to the new batteries, we also installed long-lasting, bright LEDs in the nature center.  Not all of the new bulbs are super-efficient, though.  We did put in a fluorescent and an incandescent bulb - to demonstrate the difference in energy use between the three types of technologies.  The incandescent is for demonstration use only, though.  We can look at the meter to see the how much energy it utilizes - a lot - compared to the fluorescent and LEDs.

ASPI extends a great big Thank You to MACED and Josh Bills who assisted with obtaining and installing the batteries!

Grandma called them "woods flowers."  They take advantage of the bees coming out of hibernation - and bloom early, before the blooms that aren't so frost-resistant can survive.

Don't think you have to travel too far to see a good diversity.  I stayed within 50 feet of the Mary E. Fritsch Nature Center and saw these lovelies.   The Zalla trail (1.7 miles with a nice climb at the beginning - my 5 year old loves it!) will be awash in blooms in a week or two.

Pack a picnic and wander around the picnic pavilion on the relatively flat Rockcastle River flood plane.  Or pack a water bottle and hike the Zalla trail.  Be sure to pick up a wonderful interpretative brochure on the first level of the Nature Center.

Go 5 miles south of Livingston on Route 25.  Turn right onto Lower River Road (just before you cross the Rockcastle River).  Go one mile.

Take Exit 49 east on 909 from I-75. Go one mile North, just across Rockcastle River.  Turn left onto Lower River Road.  Go one mile. 

    April is Keep America Beautiful Month;  Humor & Guitar Month;  Month of the Young Child;  Appreciate Diversity Month;  National Poetry Month;  National Stress Awareness Month;  Child Abuse Prevention Month;  World Habitat Awareness Month;  and National Recycling Month.  These month designations fall within the purview of the Simple Lifestyle Calendar, centering around simple lifestyle, social justice and general spiritual issues, but there are many, many others.

    Falling in this month are many special days celebrating our newly awoken planet in the Northern hemisphere; chief among these for us, of course, is the relatively recent celebration of Earth Day.  Here is a brief history of this day from Earth Day: The History of a Movement, from Earth Day Network website:

"Earth Day 1970 capitalized on the emerging consciousness, channeling the energy of the anti-war protest movement and putting environmental concerns front and center. The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. Inspired by the student anti-war movement, he realized that if he could infuse that energy with an emerging public consciousness about air and water pollution, it would force environmental protection onto the national political agenda. Senator Nelson announced the idea for a “national teach-in on the environment” to the national media; persuaded Pete McCloskey, a conservation-minded Republican Congressman, to serve as his co-chair; and recruited Denis Hayes as national coordinator. Hayes built a national staff of 85 to promote events across the land.

As a result, on the 22nd of April, 1970 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values."

    Other spring-oriented celebrations occurring in April are: Garden Week, National Park Week and Keep America Beautiful Week, generally held the last full week of April; Wildlife Week, held the third week; Sun Day, held on the Sunday closest to Earth Day, and Arbor (or Bird) Day, celebrated on different days in different States depending on the best tree planting season in their area.  April 19 is National Hanging Out Day, a holiday encouraging communities to learn about the financial and environmental benefits of line-drying laundry.

    The religious observance of Easter celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ (a moveable feast not fixed in relation to the civil calendar, the first Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon following the March equinox) is also a spring celebration, still retaining some early fertility and rebirth symbols such as rabbits and eggs.

    We here at ASPI encourage all In April to spend time out of doors, soak up the sunshine, and plan, plant and celebrate in the garden!